Near Life Experience
by nocturnalmachine
Summary: Quinn as fight club head, Rachel as promising new fighter. From a filled request on tumblr, details inside.


**A/N:** Inspired by: brittany-santana. tumblr. com/post/15557979287/

And this because I didn't know how to write a women's fight club and I've always loved this photo set: (NSFW) suicidegirls. com/members/Missy/albums/site/13576/

With some obvious Fight Club thrown in.

Mistakes are mine, I'm clumsy.

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><p>Breadstix is the most popular venue in Lima. If there's an event, a dinner date, <em>anything<em>, it's happening there. Especially on a Saturday.

It's about eleven thirty p.m. when Rachel arrives, light blue hoodie pulled fully over her head, identity concealed.

All of the lights in and around the restaurant are out except for a dim flickering streetlight at the back.

Rachel goes around the building and looks for signs of life. She knows what goes on here; she just doesn't know how to get in.

A barely-there sliver of light shines meekly from a shut cellar door on the ground. Looking around slowly and thoroughly, she approaches the entrance. She lifts one of the two weighty metal doors and finds purchase on a set of stairs inside. Her descent is careful and she simultaneously seals the door above her.

When she reaches the basement, there's a short hallway lit only by a single worn out bulb. There are muffled hard, packing noises and reckless shouts reverberating off of the walls and through the door in front of her.

She carefully inches the barrier open enough to slide her body in. There's beer, cigarettes, and excitement and it's all deliciously wrong. The room is mostly bare with the exception of some pillars, trash cans, and scattered items. Its dark, only some of the lights are working, and it feels like she's walked into a secret. She walks up and blends in with the crowd as if she's been there all night.

In the centre of the floor, two girls are circling each other. They're slightly crouched, periodically grappling to take the fight to the floor before letting go when they can't rob the other of her balance. They both appear to be around twenty; the first is lean with short purple and blonde hair. Her opponent is a slim, long-haired brunette. They're both topless, a lot of the girls in the crowd are. Everyone surrounds them, watching, it's so ancient Rome, and that thought makes Rachel smile.

As she directs her attention back to the fight she watches the brunette throw a powerful right hook. It connects fiercely with the purple-haired girls face and she stares blankly ahead. She staggers slightly and then topples heavily; face first, to the ground.

The spectators go wild and someone hands the victorious brunette a beer. She smiles and raises the bottle in the air. More chaotic noise erupts from the bodies in the room along with some raised fists.

Purple bangs slide along the floor as the losing contender finally attempts to sit up. She's helped to her feet and she shoots her audience a bloody grin. "Fucking awesome. Just…fucking awesome." She seems to still be in a daze while everyone laughs and pats her on the back.

A body saunters out of the shadows. Everyone makes space for the person who commands their collective attention. No one is ever in her way; she is always the centre of focus.

The golden-yellow lights illuminate high cheekbones and short blonde tresses when she reaches the middle of the floor. Her abs are flat above her skinny jeans and her breasts are banded to her chest. Everyone is silent.

Quinn's smile is small but she's obviously pleased. "Well done ladies. It's always fun to see you fight Rebecca." She smiles at the brunette that just won. Rebecca blushes and then ducks her head when the girls tease her.

This is Quinn's element, she is respected and she knows how to handle the power.

Quinn sweeps her gaze around the room and her lips quirk up a bit. Her voice takes on a slightly authoritative inflection, "I see some new faces. Just in case you don't know rule number eight; if it's your first night at fight club…"

She leaves it open and the fighters finish the sentence, "You have to fight!"

Quinn chuckles at their enthusiasm. "Exactly. I want to see who has potential, I'm putting together a team of veterans and newbies and I'm scouting tonight only. I want everyone to show me what they've got. I know we all have some stress to relieve but let's throw the cubs in with the lions for a bit." She finishes with a devilish smirk.

"Fuck yeah!"

That's all it takes to hype everyone back up. Some girls try to coax the people they'd invited and others encourage unfamiliar strangers.

Quinn appears to be searching for someone in particular when Rachel decides she wants to make her presence known. She quickly removes her shoes and socks and walks forward, garnering confused looks as the girls notice that there's someone who actually has clothes on.

Quinn's eyebrow slides higher on her face as she regards the hooded stranger.

Rachel lifts her head and removes the fabric that's concealing her identity.

"Hi, I'm Rachel Berry, I'd like to audition for the position of fighter." Her serious expression doesn't falter.

"This isn't a musical, Rachel. I didn't invite you so you could make a fool of yourself."

Quinn had only told her that she could come because the girl was persistent. She was extremely interested in this particular underground scene, she'd been bothering her about it for over a month.

Rachel steps forward and cracks her knuckles, she refused to back down.

For as long as she could remember, Quinn's hated feeling like she was being called out. "You know what? Never mind. Step closer. I'll be your first opponent."

The room suddenly comes to life because, let's be honest, these chicks want to see a good fucking fight.

Rachel slips out of her jacket and then tugs her black tank top off with only a magenta sports bra left. She knows that her appearance is keeping some of these girls from taking her seriously; she isn't rough or rugged like them. She's also aware of some obvious leering and it inflates her confidence a bit.

Rachel walks closer to Quinn and puts her guard up. She's ready to prove her point. "Let's dance, Fabray."

Quinn doesn't even take on her usual perfect fighting stance; she just raises an eyebrow and smiles. "I thought that I said this_ isn't_ a musical."

With that, Quinn sends a swift kick to Rachel's thigh. It causes her to wince a little because it hurt like shit and she was too surprised to fully hide her reaction.

Rachel swings her left leg expertly at Quinn's right calf and when the blond shifts to dodge it, Rachel's right fist connects with her side; hard.

Quinn looks mildly impressed through her barely veiled shock. The rowdy sounds around them become muted to her and she focuses on the lightning fast brunette. She avoids a right jab and a left hook before she punches Rachel right in the face.

Her blow creates a split under her eyebrow that slowly begins to leak. Quinn is sure she has this in the bag until Rachel wipes the blood with the back of her hand and continues to look for an opening, barely acknowledging the hit.

Quinn is surprised for a second too long, her world shifts and she's unexpectedly slammed onto the ground.

Her hips are being straddled and Rachel grabs a handful of her hair in her left hand and punches her square in the jaw with the right.

Fuck. That actually hurt a lot.

Quinn leans up and rolls her hips to flip them over. She barely gains the upper hand before Rachel wraps strong legs tightly around her waist from below. The little diva pulls Quinn's head into a chokehold and presses her body upward as hard as she can while she squeezes with her toned thighs. Little black dots appear in Quinn's vision and her attempts at freeing herself only make things worse, it's impossible to get out of a perfect guillotine.

Rachel tugs relentlessly at every point of contact and Quinn's carotids strain against her arm as they try to regulate blood flow. With her last bit of energy Quinn slides her hand to the ground and taps out weakly.

Rachel lets go of her neck and drops her legs from her waist. Quinn slumps further into her and then rolls over onto the ground, waiting for the lightheadedness to subside.

The girls are all going crazy. No fighter in that room is as swift and methodical as Rachel was just now and it was amazing to watch.

The brunette sits up and wipes more blood from her brow, she's aware of the dull ache that's making it's presence known as her adrenaline dies down.

A pale, bruised hand makes its way into her line of sight and she looks up to see Quinn. They smile at each other when Rachel grabs the offered hand and hoists herself up.

"That was the hottest thing I've ever seen, and I've seen _a lot _of hot things." Rachel spins around to see Santana approaching her and she vaguely wonders how many familiar faces she would've seen if she had really looked for some. "Thanks? I think."

A look is shared between Quinn and Santana before the Latina says, "Welcome to the team." The raucous viewers applaud and cheer, Rachel smiles her biggest smile and takes a bow.

A new set of opponents volunteer and the animalistic cycle starts again.

Santana pulls her to the side until they're at a pillar and she promptly leans on it. Quinn walks up distractedly, surveying the current tussle.

"Nobody's ever beaten Q before. Well I have, _twice_." She laughs at the scowl she gets from the blonde. "Where'd you learn all of that ninja shit?"

"My uncle is a mixed martial arts trainer. Self defence is really important when you're as petite as I am." She feels eyes trail over her body and she knows it's Quinn because she'd turned slightly at the word petite.

Rachel smiled to herself; tonight wasn't as scary as she had initially thought it would be.

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><p>After about nine more fights, they called it quits and locked up.<p>

Four more girls were selected for the team. Rachel still didn't know what the team was going to do but she couldn't find it in herself to worry about it right now, she was on a bit of a high.

She was waiting with Santana and Quinn out front. She'd jogged there to warm up and the girls said they'd give her a ride and clean her up.

A sense of accomplishment washed over her because she'd (literally) beaten Quinn Fabray at something and gotten her approval for it. Rachel smiled to herself. Brittany's headlights shone on them and she extracted herself from her thoughts in time to see Quinn looking at her, puzzled.

They all pile into the suv, Santana kisses Brittany from the passenger seat and everyone puts their seat belts on.

As they pull down the road, Quinn turns to Rachel with an inquisitive look.

"You seem different; I have to admit that it's kind of unsettling because I can't figure out what's changed."

Rachel gives her a coy smile, "I'm allowed to be mysterious sometimes too."

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><p><strong>AN:** High school or future? I have ideas for both.


End file.
